Chapter 66.2: The Trapped Adventurer III – (2) (1/2)

Otou-san stepped forward by himself.

He sheathed his longsword at his waist and held his round shield at the ready like a frisbee.

Ordinary frog-heads detected enemies via sight. But as it had lost its sight, this one probably used its hearing.

To confirm that, Otou-san threw a random stone.

When it hit the fountain, the frog-head shot out its tongue and caught it.

Compared to the earlier one, the movement of this one’s tongue was several times faster. I could only see its afterimage.

However, the one even faster than that, was Otou-san.

He threw the round shield.

I couldn't even see the afterimage.

I heard the thud of iron piercing into flesh, and blood splattered onto the ground.

Its tongue had been sealed.

The Chochos left the frog-head’s hand and headed straight for Otou-san.

「I’ll teach you something for future reference. For guys that form colonies like this, there’s always one that’s in charge of being their “eyes”」

He took out a knife.

There was a flash of silver.

Sharper than an arrow, it pierced through one of the Chochos.

The colony fell apart and the Chochos all rolled onto the ground.

「And, when that one is killed, they stop moving temporarily」

He pulled out his longsword and swung it like he was mowing grass or something. He easily cut down all of the hungry Chochos.

The frog-head swung its long arms like whips.

One swing of the longsword cut off both arms.

That looked very easy.

For humans, their brains simplify phenomena that cannot be understood so that they can process them.

Walking normally, Otou-san approached the frog-head and thrust his longsword home into its head. He pulled out the longsword and stabbed its head again to be doubly sure.

He retrieved his knife and shield.

「It’s over」

Umm.

This person, he just defeated them normally.

「Souya, dispose of their corpses. After that, prepare food. I’ll lay some simple traps around us」

「Oh, okay」

That’s so amazing that I couldn't understand it at all. He is on another level.

After calling the party over, I had everyone rest. I left the preparation of food to my sister.

I piled up the corpses in the passageway, and then burned them after soaking them in oil. For some reason, they smelled pretty good. The frog’s meat seemed edible, but……

「That guy’s poisonous. Also, the wilted Chochos are all skin and bones, so there’s nothing to eat」

……I was given a warning by Otou-san, who had returned from checking our surroundings.

「These frogs, where do they accumulate the poison?」

「If I remember correctly, the poison is accumulated in the holes near the back of their eyes」

「In that case, that poison is a defense against predation, isn't it?」

「That's right. These guys don’t use the poison as a means of attack」

「Then, its limbs should be edible, right?」

「You……… It may be a monster, but you eat bipedal creatures?」

「Chickens are also bipedal, you know? Also, you eat chicken eggs quite often, don’t you?」

「Eggs are different. They have no legs, right?」

In this alternate world, they have a custom of not eating bipedal creatures. That's the reason why, even though there are chickens, they don't eat much of them.

I was quite surprised when I found out that even the chicken eggs sold by the merchant company are treated as bizarre foods. They are bizarre foods that even the king eats though.

「So, Souya, are you going to eat them, these frog limbs?」

「I’ll leave that for another time」

We’re in a hurry today, and I have to recover from my fatigue too.

When we returned to the open space, I saw that a large tarp had been spread out and everyone was sitting on top of it.

Placed in front of everyone were several packs, which were gray in color. All nine of them were swelled up, and steam was blowing out of them.

「What on earth is this?」

Just like Otou-san, everyone in the party also had dubious expressions on their faces. My sister, who had eaten one before, was exuding smugness from her whole body.

They were combat rations of the Self-Defense Force.

Just by pouring water in, the chemical agent would heat up and warm the retort pack inside. Even though it was an emergency, relying on something like this was a humiliation.

Otou-san and I also sat down.

Once I sat down, the fatigue hit me all at once. I was more exhausted than I had thought. I had overdone it while being strangely conscious of Otou-san.

Beep, beep, went a timer.

Stopping the timer on her wristwatch, my sister spoke with a self-satisfied look.

「Fuffu~n, this is something wonderful that lets you eat hot food just by adding water. It’s precious food that I have less than a hundred of left, so eat it gratefully, got it?」

My things are also my sister’s things, it seems.

「I'll show you all what to do, so imitate me」

Ea opened the pack and poured out the hot water.

She gingerly took out the retort packs inside. There were two packs of rice and one each of hamburger curry and ginger-fried pork.

「For the rice packs, remove the lid on top, and then pour the unsealed side dish onto it. After that, eat it with a spoon! That's it」

My sister poured the hamburger curry over her rice and lost no time in bolting it down.

Everyone in the party also imitated her and started eating.

「It's really nice and hot. The pork is delicious. …………Can this be reproduced using magic, I wonder?」

「Ojou-sama, by all means, let’s do it. And if we sell it, we’ll make a killing」

The Brave and the maid were eating their food with wicked-looking expressions.

Gashuraku-san was eating with his back to all of us.

「I’m fine with eating this every time」

「………………」

「………………」

Shuna was eating in high spirits. Rana and Lys were eating wordlessly.